Mashobra is famous for

Review and Ratings (14)

Mashobra

This is a small and relatively less explored town, at a distance of mere 10 km from main Shimla. Tourists come here to relax and unwind in the lap of nature where the richness in flora and fauna is in abundance .. It is so beautiful place in Shimla for see snow

An oasis

We undertook Mashobra trip in early Feb, '17. To reach Mashobra from Mumbai, we decided to travel to Chandigarh by air and theeafter to go by Road to enjoy the scenic beauty. During our onward journey, we by passed Shimla and enjoyed the heights and curved roads through the hills to Mashobra and beyond to the Mahasu house at Purani Kothi, where we had done our booking for staying 3 nights and 4 days. As we were approaching Mashobra, we started seeing snow on the mountains and along the road side. Although, it had snowed, about 3 weeks back, it was yet to melt. There was a thick layer of snow even on the grounds of our hotel as well. The hotel- 'Mahasu House' was situated on the foothills and was surrounded by deodhar trees on two sides. It was cosy place with best of facilities. The food quality and the service just wonderful.Next day we decided to visit Naldhera to see the famous golf course. We enjoyed lunch at hotel & restaurant Hill view. Afterwards we did horse riding and some tracking at this place and returned back to the hotel by the evening.On 2nd day we moved to Shimla by car, which is about 16 Kms from Mahasu house. On reaching the lift parking, we took lift to reach ' The Mall'. After walking through the Mall, we moved up to 'the ridge', which is a well maintained place and gives an international look. The Church, the clock tower and the India Gandhi Statue are some of the landmarks at the Ridge. Finally we moved to the Lakkar Bazar, where we had fresh fruit juice and purchased some wooden items such as service trays and Coffee mugs as souvenirs and returned back to lift parking, picked up our car and came back to the hotel.On the 3rd and the final day, we visited Kufri. After parking our car we decided to move up to kufri on Mule backs as the muddy way to the top had become slushy due to melting snow. On the way we took gum boots on rent to wear on reachong the top. Well decorated Yaks were looking attractive for posing for pictures. After passing through lots of stalls we reached the snow clad Mahasu peak and took photographs at the paradise point. The apple garden point had no attraction at this point in time, as no apples were left on the trees. We enjoyed the icy winds for about an hour and returned to car parking on mule backs.On the 4th day morning we returned to Chandigarh and took flight back to Mumbai. It was amazing and enjoyable winter for Mumbaikars. The memory of the trip still lingers.

I am heading to Mashobra

Mashobra Overview

Mashobra, located at an altitude of 2500 m above sea level, is one of Asia's largest watersheds with the Indus and Ganges on either side. It is a small town in the district of Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh. It is surrounded with densely covered forests of oaks and pines.

Mashobra was built by Lord Dalhousie in the 18th century. It is found in the biographies of Lady Mountbatten and Lady Edwinas. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister, paid a visit to Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy and then Governor General of India, and his wife Lady Edwina. Before 1948, Mashobra used to house one of the only two Presidential retreats in India. The other Presidential retreat is Rashtrapati Nilayam in Secunderabad.

Mashobra is visited by the President of India every year and during that period the main office shifts to the retreat at Chharabra. The building of the Presidential retreat is a completely wooden structure originally constructed in 1850. The Wildflower Hall at Chharabra was the residence to Lord Kitchener as well as Lord Ripon during the British Raj, now a property of Oberoi Hotels. Today Mashobra is a well known tourist’s destination.

The villa of Chevalier Federico Pelite at Carignano is a famous picnic spot and was turned into a resort in 1920. The reference to this villa can also be found in the novels by famous writer Anita Desai. Chevalier Federico Pelite, an Italian photographer during the time of Queen Victoria named this place Carignano after his native town Carignano, in Italy. It takes nearly ten minutes to reach Carignano from the centre of Mashobra.

One of the main specialities of Mashobra is fruits. It is one of the main markets supplying fruits and vegetables to Shimla. There is also a temple dedicated to Mahasu Devta, a local name of Lord Shiva, which attracts many pilgrims. The place is also known for musk deer and is a home to the Shimla Reserve Forest Sanctuary.

The best time to enjoy the place is from July to September. Mashobra is easily reachable from Shimla. It is just 15 km from Shimla and buses and taxis are available to the destination. The nearest airport is also at Shimla, about 35 km away. However, the nearest railway station is at Kalka, at a distance of 100 km. Mashobra is also reachable from Delhi and Chandigarh, by road.